The present invention generally relates to devices for continuously tearing bags to release the contents thereof and particularly to devices for tearing refuse bags and releasing the refuse therefrom.
One method that refuse is collected for disposal especially from households is with the refuse contained in bags of a plastic, paper, or like construction. After collection, refuse is often further processed before its disposal. For example, refuse is often sorted to remove certain materials such as ferrous material, recycleables, tires or the like, with sorting being performed manually or mechanically. Thus, it is necessary to remove the refuse from the bag to allow such sorting. Likewise, complete bags of refuse may be difficult or impractical to handle during further processing. For example, the capabilities of garbage grinding mills may not allow receipt of unopened bags of refuse. Further, it may be desirable to expose the refuse and/or remove the bags from the refuse. For example, to allow composting, the refuse must be exposed to air and/or it may be undesirable to allow bags which often are not formed from readily decomposable material to be mixed in with the refuse to be composted. Thus, a need has arisen for devices which are able to continuously tear bags of refuse.